This invention relates to a novel apparatus and method for the treatment of fresh water, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for softening such water by the production of a magnetic field adjacent to a flow thereof under specified conditions.
The principal water softening processes in use today are the cold lime-soda process and the cation exchange process. They involve chemical reaction and exchange, respectively, to remove chemicals which make water "hard". Consequently, certain chemicals are consumed by the processes on a continuous basis while others are collected, resulting in a considerable on-going expense of chemical supply and disposal. The purchase price and maintenance cost of the apparatus required are also considerable.
Several devices of which I am aware have been proposed for the magnetic filtration or separation of metallic particles from liquids. These devices are disclosed in the following U.S. Patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issued ______________________________________ 3,170,871 Saburo Miyata Moriya February 23, 1965 3,186,549 D. W. Botstiber June 1, 1965 3,567,026 Henry H. Kolm March 2, 1971 3,608,718 William M. Aubrey, Jr., September 28, 1971 et al 4,025,432 John J. Nolan & Peter G. Marston May 24, 1977 ______________________________________
Of those, Kolm and Aubrey relate primarily to the removal of metallic ore from a slurry, while the other three are directed to the removal of metallic impurities from a fuel system or a system of circulating fluid such as oil. The devices disclosed there are not suited to the softening of water.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,511,776, issued to Avampato, discloses a method and device for removing ions from sea water with the aid of applied magnetic fields. NaCl alone can be removed thereby, or other salts can be removed as well to yield "soft" water. The sea water is passed through transparent pipes where it is irradiated and subjected to magnetic fields whose poles are located essentially within a plane perpendicular to the direction of water flow. A high concentration of ions is thus produced, which ions are drawn to the outer annular regions of flow adjacent the side walls of the pipes. Water having a relatively low concentration of salts is then withdrawn from the axial regions of the respective pipes. After several repetitions of this process, fresh water of the desired purity and softness is obtained. This device is relatively complex and expensive for use in softening water.